Automatic railroad-crossing gate and signal



Jan. 1, 1929.

- 1,697,728 J. KWIATKOWSKI ET AL AUTOMATIC RAILROAD CROSSING GATE AND SIGNAL Filed Nov. 12, 1927 Sheets-Sheet 1 I Q E, m

Tia. Z.

e "2b R3 "1 Q 8% I Q 1 M w s a I l -LL i I Q n. S

ATTORNEYS J. KWIATKOWSKI ET AL AUTOMATIC RAZLROAD CROSSING GATE AND SIGNAL i Sheets-Sheet 2 iiled Nov. 12, 1

Jan. 1, 1929. 1,697,728

J. KWIATKOWSKI ET AL AUTOMATIC RAILROAD CROSSING GATE AND SIGNAL Filed'Nov. 12. 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ill . V I n INVENTORS.

Ja'n Kvflaikov/Sffl &,

3 21661761" skcqosk ATTORNEYS Patented den. 1, 1929.

JAN KWIATKOWSKI, F CHODZIEZ, AND SYLWESTER SKAPSKI, OF O$TROWKL POLAND.

AUTOMATIC RAILROAD- CROSSING GATE AND SIGNAL.

Application filed November 12, 1927.

This invention relates to automatic railway crossing gates and signals, and has more particular reference to an improvedmechas nism of this kind embodying track trip operating means adapted to be actuated by a manually controlled train trip for automatically eti'ecting closing and opening of the crossing gates. respect1vely upon approach of a train to and passage thereof past the intersection of a highway with the rallroad where the gates are located.

' The primary object of the invention is to provide a track trip actuated gate operating means of the above kind which is reliable and eilicient in operation as well as simple and durable in construction.

A further object is to providea gate operating mechanism of the above kind in which simple and efiicient means is provided tor sounding an alarm upon opening or closing of the gate.

The invention consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinatter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic side elevational view of a section of a railroad track equipped with gate and signal operating means constructed in accordance with the present invention, the gates being in open position;

Figure'2 is a view similar to Figure 1 wit-h the gates in closed position;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the device as illustrated in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged transverse section taken substantially upon line 4. 4: of Figure 1; I

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view of one 01 the gates provided with means for automatically illuminating the same when closed, the circuit of the illuminating means being diagrammatically illustrated; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the device'shown in Figure 5, more clearly disclosing the circuit closer by means of which the circuit of the illuminating means is automatically closed when the gate is lowered.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, 5 indicates the rails of a railway track which Serial No. 232,817.

is intersected by a highway as ate, and 7 and 7 indicate the conventional form of vertically swinging gate bars which are mounted at the intersection or crossing at opposite sides 01' the track, but at the same side of the high way, for being lowered to closed position or raised to open position as is well known in the art. As shown, the gates are pivoted upon transversehorizontal axes on the upper ends of the standards or posts 8, and arelimited in their downward swinging movement to substantially horizontal position by means of the usual stop posts 9, mounted at the opposite side 01 the highway from that at which the posts 8 are mounted. The gates are slightly over-weighted near their pivoted ends as at 10 so that if the same were free of other influences or actuating means, they would normally swing under the action of gravity to open position. i

In accordance with the present invention, the gate bars 7 and 7* are fixed upon horizontal transverse rock shafts 11, each of which is provided wit-ha crank arm 12, said crank armsprojecting in opposite directions and operatively connected so that when one gate is open or closed, a corresponding movement of the other gate is eii'ected; As shown, such means preferably consists of a push rod 13 pivoted to the crank arm 12 of the rock shaft of gate 7, and depending from said crank arm and having its lower end pivoted to one arm of a bell crank lever 14 pivotally mounted beneath the adjacent end of the cross tie 15 upon which the supporting posts 8 are mounted. The remaining arm of the bell crank lever is is connected to one arm of a second bell crank lever 16 by means of a horizontal transverse connecting rod. 17 that extends diagonally across the track beneath the rails 5 as illustrated in Figure 3, the bellcrank lever 16 being suitably pivoted beneath the other end of the tie 15 as sh'owni-n Figure 4. The crank arm 12 of the'rock shaft oi gate 7 is in turn connected to' the other arm of the bell crank lever" 16 by means-of a push rod 18.

Rigid with and depending from the rock shaft 11 of gate bar 7 is a further crank arm .19 which is operatively connected to the un 'wardly projecting shorter arm of a vertically swinging bell crank lever 20 by means of a connecting rod 21, the bell crank lever2O being pivoted upon a transverse horizontal axis to the upper end of a supporting post 22 weight 23 on the longer arm of the bell crank lever 20, the desired speed of closing of the gates can be effected within required limits. Pivoted at one end upon a transverse horlzontal axis 24 and at the same side of the track as the post 22 is an arcuate weighted cam arm whose pivot is located outwardly of and below the pivot of the bell crank lever 20; The cam arm 25 is located so that the weight 23 will ride upon the outer curved edge thereof, while the pivot 24 of said arm 25 is sufliciently close to the post 22 as to enable the weight 23'to rest upon the arm 25 at a point outwardly of the pivot 24 as shown in Figure 2, when the arm 25 is swung outwardly and downwardly to a lowered position such as will permit the weight 23 to descend for causing the gates to close through the connections described. It will also be seen that when the cam arm 25 is swung upwardly, and inwardly, the weight 23 will be raised for swingin \the bell crank lever 20 in a direction to e ect opening of the gates through the connections described, and the arrangement is such that when the gates are fully opened, the weight 23 will be in averticle plane intersecting the pivot 24 of the cam arm 25 and the-maj or part of the weight of the cam arm 25 will be disposed to the inner side of such plane for holding the weight 23 raised and thereby ensuring'that the gates will remain open until the cam arm 25 is again intentionally swung outwardly and downwardly to lowered position. In other words, the relation of the parts, when the gates are opened, is such that a suffioient amount of the weight of the weight element v23 is overcome to render its effective action less than that of the weights 10 on the gate bars, so that the latter weights act to hold the gate bars open.

Track trips are located adjacent the rails 5 at opposite sides of and at suitable distances from the highway 6, and these track trips are operatively connected to the cam arm 25 for swinging the latter to lowered or raised posi- 'dicated at 26 and 27, and those at the other side of the crossing being indicated at 28 and 29. Each track trip preferably consists of a transverse horizontal rock shaft 30 ournaled in suitable bearings 31 and extending across and beneath the rails 5. Rigid with the ends of the rock shafts 30 at the outer sides of and adjacent the rails 5 are similar outwardly and upwardly projecting operating levers crossing is connected by means of a cable 35 with the free end of a further crank arm 36 which is rigid with and projects upwardly from the rock shaft 24 upon which the cam arm 25 is mounted, and this crank arm 36 is also connected to the crank arm 34 of the rock shaft 30 of track trip 28 by means of-a cable 37. In a like manner, the crank arm 34 of the rock shaft of track trip 27 is connected by means of a cable 38 with the free end of a further crank arm 39 rigid with and depending from the rock shaft 24 of the cam arm 25, and this crank arm 39 is further connected by means of a cable 40 with the crank arm 34 of the rock shaft of track trip 29. It is noted that the arrangement of parts is such that when the gates are open as shown in Figure l, the levers 32 of the track trips 26 and 29 will be lowered below the treads of the rails 5 beneath the path of the train trip, while the levers 32 of the track trips 27 and 28 will be raised above the tread surfaces of the rails 5 in the path of the train trip. With this arrangement of parts itris evident that when the gates are open and a train approaches from the left of Figure l, the train trip may be operatively positioned or set so as to have no influence upon the lever 22 oftrack trip 26 and yet engage and depress the lever 32 of track trip 27 when reaching the point where the latter is located. It will be further evident that when the lever 32 of the trip 27 is depressed, the rock shaft 30 of trip 27 will be turned so as to swing the associated crank arm 34 for exerting a pull upon the cable 38 thereby swinging the cam arm 25 downwardly so that the weight 23 may lower for closing the gates. When this closing operation takes place, the levers 32 of the track trips 26 and 29 will rise above the tread surfaces of the rails as illustrated in Figure 2, while the lever 32 of the track trip 28 will lower beneath the tread surface of the rails. Thus, when the train passes the crossing it will have no effect upon the levers 32 of the trip 28, but will depress that of the trip 29, thereby exerting a pull upon the cable 40 for swinging the'cam arm to raised position so as to open the gates again, as explained above. A reversal of this operation will take place in case the train approachesthe crossing from the right of Figure 1 as is readily evident. In other words, in the latter case, the trip 28 will be actuated to close the gates while the trip 26 will be actuated to open said gates.

Means is provided for giving an audible signal or alarm when the gates are opened or closed and for this purpose an inverted substantially U-shaped resilient supporting arm 41 is attached at one end to the supporting post 8 of the gate bar 7, a. sound producing shell 42 being loosely suspended from the other or free end of the arm 41 at a point be tween the post 8 of gate arm 7 and post 22. Pivotally attached at one end to thecam arm 25 is a rod 43 which is arranged to have free sliding and limited lateral movement in a guide 44 carried by the post 22, and this rod 43 is of a length to extend inwardly past shell 42 when the gates are open. The rod 43 further has alateral end portion at its free end as at 45 adapted to strike the shell 42 and cause sounding of the latter as it passes the shell in moving outwardly with the cam arm 25 as the latter is lowered for closing the gates and as it passes said shell in moving inwardly with the cam arm 25 when the latter is raised for opening the gates. A further lever 46 is pivoted between its ends for vertical swing ing movement at the adj acentside of the track and in a plane parallel with the latter, and this lever 46 is connected at its upper end by means of a cable 47 with the cable 35 of track trip 26 and at its lower end by means of a cable 48 with the arm 39, which is equivalent to connection with the/cable 40 of track trip 29; the lever 46 is provided with a lateral upper end as at 49 arranged to strike the shell 42 when moved past the latter. Thus, when the trip 26 or 29 is actuated for opening the gates, the lever 46 will be swung sothat its upper end portion 49 will move inwardly past the shell 42, thus striking the latter and causing sounding of the same. In a like manner, when the trip 27 or 28 is actuated for causing closing of the gates, the lever 46 will be swung in the opposite direction so that the end 49 will move outwardly past the shell 42, thereby striking the latter and sounding the same. The movement of the lever 46 so that its upper end swings outwardly or away from the gate post when the trip 27 or 28 is actuated, is

7 caused by means of an elastic tension device or tension spring 50 connecting the upper arm of lever 46 with post 22. In view of the above it will be seen that the rod 43 and lever 46 strike the shell 42 in succession, both when the gates are opened and when they are closed, thus giving a desirable succession of sounds calculated to be heeded. In practice, the

cables will be suitably led below the road surface from one side of the crossing to the elf the-gate is opened. As shown, this may be accomplished by providing the source of light of the lamp 51 with a circuit including a source of electricity 52 and a circuit maker and breaker including a contact 53 mounted upon the post 8 of the gate bar carrying the lamp 51, and a cooperating contact 54 mounted upon said gate bar. The arrangement of the contacts is such that they will engage each other, or that the contact 54 of the gate bar will engage the contact 53 of the gate post when said gate bar is lowered or closed, and so that the contact 54'will be disengaged from the contact 53 when said gate bar is raised or opened. The contacts and wiring diagram are omitted from all of the figures except Figures 5 and 6, for sake of clearness' The operation has been explained above as the description progressed, and it is believed that the same as Well as the advantages of the invention will be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art, without 7' dwelling thereon in further detail.

Minor changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

l/Vhat we claim as new is 1. In an automatic railway crossing gate,

a vertically swinging gate bar, a weighted vertically swinging arm operatively connected to the gate bar for closing the latter when allowed to'lower, a vertically swinging cam arm adapted to be swung upwardly to raise the weighted arm and permit the gate bar to open, track trips arranged at opposite sides of the crossing and operatively connected to the cam arm for respectively raising and lowering the latter, said cam arm being of arcuate form, and the weight of said weighted arm being arranged to ride on the curved edge of said arm.

' 2. In an automatic railway crossing gate,

.a vertically swinging gate bar, a weighted vertically swinging arm operatively con nected to the gate bar for closing the latter when allowed to lower, a vertically swinging cam arm adapted to be swung upwardly to raise the wei 'hted arm and )ermit the ate bar to open, and track trips arranged at op-' posite sides of the crossing and operatively connected to the cam arm for respectively raising and lowering the latter, the pivot of the Weighted arm. being arranged'above and inwardly of the pivot of the cam arm so that the cam arm is disposed with the major part of the weight of the same inwardly of a vertical plane passing through the latter pivot when caid cam arm is raised and the gate bar is opened, with the weighted arm raised and its weight substantially in said plane so that the gate bar will remain open until the cam arm is forcibly lowered.

3. In an automatic railway crossing gate, a vertically swinging gate bar, a weighted vertically swinging arm operatively connected to the gate bar for closing the latter when allowed to lower, a vertically swinging cam arm adapted to be swung upwardly to raise the weighted armand permit the gate bar to open, andtrack trips arranged at opposite sides of the crossing and operatively connected to the cam arm for respectively raising and lowering the latter, said gate bar being arranged at one side of the railway track, a second similar gate bar arranged at the other side of the track, oppositely projecting crank arms rigid with the gate bar pivot shafts,de-

pending push rods pivoted to said crank arms, a bell crank lever associated withand having an arm pivoted to the lower end of each push rod and a connecting rod extending transversely beneath the track rails and connecting the other arms of said bell crank levers.

. 4. In an automatic railway crossing gate, a vertically swinging gate bar, a weighted vertically swinging arm operatively connected to the gate barfor closing the latter when allowed to lower, a verticallyswinging cam arm adapted to be swung upwardly to raise the weighted arm and permit the gate bar to open, track trips arranged at opposite sides of the crossing and operatively connected to the cam arm for respectively raising and lowering the latter, an electric lamp mounted on the gate bar, and a circuit closer for the lamp including a fixed contact mounted on the support of the gate bar and a further contact movable with the gate bar and engageable with the fixed contact when the gate bar is lowered and disengageable therefrom when the gate bar is raised.

7 5. In an automatic railway crossing gate, a vertically swinging gate bar, a weighted vertically swinging arm. operatively connected to the gate bar for closing the latter when allowed to lower, a vertically swinging cam arm adapted to be swung upwardly to raise the weighted arm and permit the gate bar to open, track trips arranged at opposite sides of the crossing and operatively connected to the cam arm for respectively raising and lowering the latter, each track trip including a transverse rock shaft having an upwardlycable connecting the upwardly projecting crank arm of the cam arm pivot shaft with the crank arm of the other track trip.

6. In an automatic railway crossing gate,

a vertically swinging gate bar, a weighted vertically swinging arm operatively connected to the gate bar for closing the latter when allowed to lower, a vertically swinging cam arm adapted to be swung upwardly to raise the weighted arm and permit the gate bar to open, track trips arranged at opposite sides of the crossing and operatively connected to the cam arm for respectively raising and lowering the latter, a sound producing shell, and a rod pivoted to the cam arm and guided for substantially horizontal longitudinal movement to strike said shell when the gate bar is opened or closed. v a

7 In an automatic railway crossing gate, a vertically swinging gate bar, a weighted vertically swinging arm operatively connect.- ed to the gate bar for closing the latter when allowed to lower, a vertically swinging cam arm adapted to be swung upwardly to raise the weighted arm and permit the gate bar to open, track trips arranged at opposite sides of the crossing and operatively connected to the cam arm for respectively raising and lowering the latter, a sound producing shell, a rod pivoted to the cam arm and guided for substantially horizontal longitudinal movement to strike said shell when the gate bar is opened'or closed, a pivoted lever operatively connected to one track trip for striking the shell when the gate bar is opened, and a spring for swinging said lever for striking the shell when the gate bar is closed, said rod and lever being arranged to successively strike the shell when the gate bar is opened or closed.

In testimony whereof we atfix our signatures.

JAN KIVIATKOWSKI. SYLl/VESTER SKAPSKI. 

